Don't Blame Me
by PetrovaLover
Summary: Blake Grimes wanted nothing more than to go back to her old life. She longed to have her old job back. She missed her friends. She missed eating chocolate on the couch with an old rom-com on the television. Clearly, life has different plans for her. She never expected the dead to stand and eat the living. All she can expect is to hold on.
1. Ain't No Sunshine

Bright blue eyes looked up at the sky in boredom. The young woman was laying on her back on top of the RV, her arms behind her head. The Georgia heat was not doing anyone a favor. The woman's t-shirt clung onto her due to the sweat that she was producing. She wanted nothing more than for the temperature to drop. She remembered when she would go to Denver with her brother and her parents to visit family. Her first trip there was the first time when she met the snow. It was magical. She missed that world. Today, the world is filled with the undead. Death, blood and violence just seems to surround every turn she takes. She wanted nothing more than to go back to how everything was: her working at the hospital, visiting her brother whenever she could and going out on Friday nights with her friends. She wondered where they were. Were they dead? Did they manage to leave ? Are they safe? So many questions and so little answers.

"What the hell are you doin', Blake?", she heard her friend ask from below. He had taken the liberty of being the leader of this little group. Who would dare argue with him? He was a former cop, and he is a stubborn son of a bitch. Blake did not mind him taking the lead in the group. No one really seemed qualify to do such. The people here were either too emotional or stupid to take care of countless of people. Shane can at least think things through, although his pride can get in the way at times.

"Contemplating life", Blake sighed as she sat up to glance down to see Shane looking at her with amusement. He had a lazy smile on his face and his brow was arched, taking in Blake's words. Blake had nothing to do here. She had been given the job to care for others when people are injured. That was due to her being a surgical resident before the world went to shit. She refused to wash clothing with the rest of the women. She is fine cleaning her own clothes, but that is it. She would rather do something more exciting or entertaining than that. By no means was she belittling the other women. Blake is just better at different things that are not cleaning.

"How about you get your ass down and be useful? " he retorted. Blake pressed her lips together as she listened to his words. She knew that he was teasing, but she was just in a mood. That happens when she has nothing to do. Boredom is not something she likes. She was always running around, studying or trying to show off to her attendings that she is amazing. Now, there was none of that. Nonetheless, she began to get down from the top of the RV. Her joints were stiff from not moving for a while. She was just happy that she was going to do something. Shane took a step back as he watched the woman begin climbing down before she jumped down the last few steps. She turned to Shane with an arched eyebrow.

"How can I be useful?"

Before Shane could answer, a voice from the radio was heard.

"𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰. 𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦? 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦? 𝘈𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘮𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥. 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰, 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦?"

Blake's attention shifted to the radio, and she noticed everyone stop what they were doing to listen. A young blonde instantly darted to the radio to reply. Amy fumbled a bit with it before she began speaking into it.

"Hey. Hello?"

Blake glanced around to see everyone had began to gather around. She saw Dale begin to make his way to the young blonde.

"𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘦?" the voice asked again. Charlie sighed at the sound of it. The man in the radio can not hear Amy.

"Yes, I can hear you. You're coming through. Over" Amy said, excitement in her voice.

Blake was not going to break the news to them. She leaned her back against the RV and waited for them to figure that out. Shane kept his ear on the conversation, eager to see if they have truly communicated with the mysterious man on the radio. Hearing the man say that he was headed to Atlanta made Shane head over to the group of people around theradio. They soon got the hint that the man in the radio could not hear them. Shane tried to communicate with the mysterious man, but it did not work. Blake was not going to stay there to hear the rest of it. She can assume what will happen next.

Blake pushed herself off the RV, and began to make her way to her tent. She was bored. She would have loved nothing more than to join the group that left to scavenge the city. Blake knew that she could handle being in the city. She is fast, agile and sneaky. Unfortunately, Shane was pretty vocal about joining them. As much as she wanted to argue with him, he had good points. She is the only one with medical training. If someone was to die because she was bored and left, that would be on her. She made a vow to do no harm. Technically, she wouldn't have been to harm the person that is injured, so she thinks it doesn't apply there. No matter, she would be blamed for shit that isn't her fault. Rather than waiting for that to happen, she will just do what is asked of her to avoid any problems. She does not want any more problems than the dead roaming the earth to feed on the living.

Blake bent down to look through her backpack. It was filled with stuff from her past: some books, a journal, and photograph of herself with her family. She sighed as she saw the picture. It was a last year's Christmas picture. She saw her brother with his family, Lori and Carl, and Shane. He decided to come after he decided to dump his girlfriend. She ran her thumb over her brother's face. She missed him so much. He has been dead for over a month, and she has yet to process it. She just wants to see his dopey smile and hear his voice.

"Aunt Blake?" She heard a voice from outside her tent. She lifted her head to see Carl with an upset look on his face. She put the picture in her bag and gave her entire attention to her nephew.

"What's up, little man?" She asked as she took a seat on the ground.

"Mom got mad and Shane told me to go find you'" he sighed as he walked in to take a seat beside her.

It didn't take Blake a lot to see what was going one between Lori and Shane. She noticed the longing looks that Shane would throw at her, and both of them disappearing at the same time. It didn't bother her at all. She was just astonished that someone would be getting laid during the time that the world is ending. Of course, who is she to judge? She wouldn't mind getting laid, but she has some things more important than that.

"Well, how about the both of us just stay here until your mom is fine?" Blake suggested as she looked through her bag to get a book. Her eyes stopped upon To Kill a Mockingbird. She loved that book immensely.

"Here, read this" she said as she handed Carl the book that was in mint condition, surprisingly.

Carl grimaced at the sight of it. "Reading? I thought that school ended" he whined, but Blake didn't care. She rolled her eyes at his words. She has spent more than a decade of her life in school, and she missed it.

"You thought wrong. Just read the book and imagine it like a movie in your head" she said as she pulled another book to see The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. She just wants to read. It isn't like there is a lot to do. She is just there to put band-aids on. Blake just wants to escape her reality, like everyone else. The world of walkers isn't her own. Her world consisted of running around, trying to get into the best surgery and working her ass off to be the best. Here, she is just like everyone else, just trying to survive.


	2. Cruel Summer

The Georgia heat did not waver at all. Everyone was sweaty as the sun's rays shined harshly upon the group. It was Blake's turn to keep watch. She sat on the beach chair, on top of the RV. A rifle rested on her lap, as she looked around the area. She was not allowed to leave the quarry, so she might as well do something that is useful: keeping watch. Taking watch is better than nothing. Waiting for the next injured person got boring for the young woman, not like she wished any harm on anyone. She is just used to the constant pressure of working at a hospital. She tried not to miss her old life. That would prevent her from moving on, and she didn't want that. She needed to move on, from everything. She just needed to focus on the now. After all, she is making sure there wasn't any of the dead around the area. How fun is that?

Blake was alright with a gun. Of course, it had been a while since she held one. Nonetheless, she has not forgotten her lessons. Her lovely brother Rick and Shane had taken the time to teach her before she left for college. The Grimes siblings bantered, while Shane simply watched them with amusement, pitching in once in a while. She missed those times. Things didn't depend on life or death. Life was simple. The only things to worry about were about school, guys and looking for summer internships around the country. Now, any decisions depends on whether you would live or die. It sucked. Life sucks. The only thing anyone could do is adapt. That is where Darwinism kicks in: survival of the fittest. The fittest being those that adapt to this hell that is reality, and she is going to survive.

Blake's trail of thought had been interrupted by a car alarm. She furrowed her brows at the sound. Instantly, she shot up from her chair and looked around through the binoculars. She couldn't see anything. The sound was bouncing off the quarry. All she can assume is that an idiot was driving the car, because that sound would do nothing but bring trouble.

Everyone seemed to have shut up at the car sound. The chatter and the light laughs have seized for the moment. All they could do is wait to hear what Blake was seeing. Tension rose as people waited anxiously to know what was going on.

"Talk to me, Blake" Shane said as he stood up from his previous position and began to move to the RV, anticipating to hear what Blake saw. Carl only glanced up to his mother, worried as to what this may be. He was regretting complaining about that haircut earlier.

" I can't tell yet" Blake replied as she continued to look through the binoculars. She didn't take her eyes away from the scene. All she can do is wait to see who this might be. She could only hope it was the group that was sent to Atlanta. Unwanted visitors will be met in an unpleasant manner. Soon, a red car began to fill her vision.

"Is it them? Are they back?" Amy asked hopefully. No one replied to the blonde, too worried as to what was happening. Seeing the car clearly, she was able to tell that it was a red Dodge Challenger that was driving mighty fast. Blake could only assume as to whom this was. That just made the brunette laugh a bit.

"What is it?" Blake heard Amy ask. Lowering the binoculars, the brunette shifted her gaze to the blonde below. With a slight grin on her face, she shrugged. "Looks like a stolen car, a nice one" she commented as she returned her attention to the car that was driving towards them before it came to a stop. Dale and Shane instantly walked towards it, knowing who was behind the wheel already.

The car alarm sound was louder. It began to hurt a few ears, especially Blake. It didn't help that the car is only a few feet away from her. She grimaced but kept her eye out to see where everyone else was. The alarm drowned out the yelling from Shane and Dale to Glenn. Blake only wanted for that damn alarm to be taken care off. They didn't need any to call any walkers to the area. She remembered that Daryl was still out hunting for food. The last thing she would want is for the hunter to die. Blake likes his blunt and quiet nature. It sucked that he didn't let her join him on the hunt. She would have loved to learn how to track and to hunt. She was good skinning the critters. She just needed something interesting to do.

The blaring sound of the alarm had finally seized, bringing relief to everyone at the camp. Amy kept bombarding Glenn on her sister's whereabouts and well being. It was getting annoying. Glenn didn't have to say much as the sound of a vehicle was heard. A truck soon entered the area, and she assumed that everyone had returned from the run. That was good to see. She wondered what they found on their trip. Atlanta must still have some supplies left, after everything. People just ran. They had to after the military got involved. All that could be heard was gunshots and explosives. Blake wondered what happened to the military. Is there a military? There would have been something by now. It looks like hoping for the world to go back to the way it was is useless. Moving forward is the best way to go.

Blake couldn't help but sigh at the sight before her. The Harrison sister met with an embrace as the rest of the group began to get out of the vehicle. The brunette ignored the pang in her chest as she saw all these people come together again. Her mind couldn't help but trail back to her brother. She misses him so much that it hurts her. She needs a distraction before it finally sets in that he is dead. She glanced at Carl to see that he also felt the same. Lori and him were talking, clearly she was comforting her son. She could not be near them, because she feels like she will breakdown from all the pain. Being numb was better.

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked the group. Honestly, Blake did not care. She was just glad that they were back. She rubbed her eyes, pushing away the sense of grief.

"New guy... he got us out", Glenn replied.

Great, another mouth to feed. Although, more people means more security. If this new guy is as useful as he proved to be, he might be valuable. At the moment, the young woman just wanted to greet her friend. "New guy?" Shane questioned, wondering if a new person in the group is a good idea.

People are dangerous just as they are helpful.

Without another thought, she began to get down of the RV as she listened to Morales talk, "Yeah, crazy Vato just got into town". Blake turned around to see Morales hugging his wife and his children. "Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello!", Morales called out to the new guy. Blake simply walked to Glenn with a smile.

"Hey! Pizza boy! You're fifteen minutes late" she joked with a small laugh as she wrapped an arm around the young man. Glenn simply groaned and shook his head. "You are not funny" he protested with a fake look of disgust. Blake smirked simply, "Really? because I think I am hilarious". Her gaze moved from her friend to the sound of footsteps. Let see who the man of the hour is, she thought to herself as she waited to see the man.

At the sight of him, she froze. Her entire being just stopped working. Her breath was caught in her throat as she looked at the familiar figure. The smile that was on her face fell, only to be replaced with a look of shock. She just felt weak in the knees. Could this be a dream? She could not help but wonder as she took in the sight of her not-so-dead brother. She did not know how to react to this at all. She was already coping, somewhat, with the thought of him gone. Now, he is back. All the pain just seem to come to the surface. All the rage, grief and sorrow were coming back to the surface like a swirling storm. She couldn't help but tear up. It was beginning to get harder to breathe. She had pushed down the thought of her brother being dead for so long, only for everything to come back to the surface.

"Hey, you okay?" Glenn asked, noticing that the woman'sdemenor had changed. Blake couldn't answer right now, trying to wrap the sight before her around her head.

"Dad!" Carl cried as he ran as fast as he could to meet his father in a tearful embrace. Rick fell on his knees holding onto Carl, not believing that this is true. He had finally found his family. He sank his head into his son's neck, seeing that this is all real. Shane and Lori were shocked, but for a different reason. It seems that their activities will come to a stop, since the most important man in their life had returned from the land of the dead. Lori also ran to her husband while Shane and Blake let the family hug.

" That's my brother, Rick" Blake muttered as her mind was working at a million hours per hour. She did not know what to do. She did not know how to process this. He's alive. HE'S alive. This felt like a cruel joke. Was he here only for the world to take her from him, again? Blake felt the tears run down her cheeks, unwillingly. She hated crying, but she could not prevent it. She slowly began to take a few steps towards them. The organ in her chest just began to beat faster. Her heart was pounding against her rib-cage. Her hands had gone clammy out of nervousness.

Rick lifted his gaze to see his baby sister. The Grimes siblings met their gazes. Blue met blue, and they could read off what they were feeling. He could see the conflict within her eyes, and he could not help but feel guilty. He knew that he was the reason for that. He knows how hard it is for Blake to express herself. He saw how much she struggle in that moment to come to terms with what was taking place. Rick hated that he was the one that was causing this turmoil of emotions within her.

"Come 'ere" Rick said as he watched his sister walk towards him slowly before she began to run towards him. Rick had let go of Lori and Carl, standing in order to catch his sister in a tender embrace. Blake wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer as Rick had his arms around her waist.

She could finally breathe. Time had froze, and all that she could think of was her brother. He is here. He is alive. Her best friend is back, her confidant, her North Star.

"You fucking bastard. You're lucky that I won't kick your ass", Blake said, no anger in her tone. Rather, she said it with complete joy. She felt his chest rumble from the laugh that left him. "I missed you, too", Rick said as he sank his head in her neck, savoring this moment. He is back with his family. He has finally found them. Nothing could describe the joy he is feeling right then and there. At last, the Grimes siblings have been reunited.


End file.
